Programs

Fun & Creativity

At the heart of the Teaching Strategies approach to early childhood education is The Creative Curriculum®, the country’s leading scientifically based, comprehensive curriculum for programs serving children from birth to age 5.

The Creative Curriculum® is integrated with high-quality assessment, professional development, and family connection resources to create a well-rounded program that addresses the needs of early childhood education professionals, children, and their families.

The Creative Curriculum® helps educators to plan and implement a developmentally appropriate program that promotes children’s social-emotional development and learning in the core areas of literacy, mathematics, science, and social studies.

It combines the latest research and the freshest ideas into a forward-thinking approach to learning–one that honors creativity and respects the role that teachers play in making learning exciting and relevant for every child in their classrooms.

The unique approach is designed to inspire our teachers, to help create a high-quality learning environment and, most of all, to support their important efforts as they open doors to successful learning.

With The Creative Curriculum®, every program can put together a complete system that promotes positive outcomes for all children, including English-language learners, children with disabilities, and advanced learners.

Spanish

The Spanish language is taught utilizing a hands-on experience. Through the use of a trained, bilingual early childhood teacher, the lessons are taught through the use of stories, songs, rhymes, phrases, and conversation. Twice a week for 30 minutes each class starts the session by greeting one another in Spanish. Afterwards, the children participate in a series of activities that enable them to acquire the language while having loads of fun. Themes and categories for leaning include: numbers, colors, animals, shapes, weather, people and items are introduced and reinforced through classroom use and home-school activities.

Music

Lead by the internationally renowned Bills Jenkins, children are given an opportunity to play several instruments while Mr. Jenkins leads the group in song with the use of his guitar as a guide. Specializing in music from Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, the children are given a rich cultural experience.

Social Emotional

To facilitate social-emotional development, St. Alban’s Early Childhood Center uses Al’s Pals: Kids Making Healthy Choices.

Al’s Pals is a comprehensive curriculum and teacher training program that develops social-emotional skills, self-control, problem-solving abilities, and healthy decision-making in children ages 3-8 years old. The program is nationally recognized as an evidence-based model prevention program.

Mathematics

The Numbers Plus Preschool Mathematics Curriculum is a comprehensive set of detailed plans for small- and large-group early childhood mathematics activities, with ideas for extending learning throughout the program day. By actively engaging young children with materials and ideas, Numbers Plus builds on the latest knowledge from research and practice about early mathematics learning and how adults support it.
Aligned with the standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and developed under a grant from the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, the 120 activities in Numbers Plus are divided into five content areas:

Number Sense and Operations
Geometry
Measurement
Algebra
Data Analysis

Language

At St. Alban’s Early Childhood Center, we understand the powerful connection between language and literacy. Operating from the premise that early literacy is considered the most important academic skill in school readiness since most school learning depends upon knowing how to read, we encourage continuous opportunities for children to speak, listen, read, and write.

Science

St. Alban’s Early Childhood Center has enhanced their curriculum by integrating the ScienceStart!Curriculum. This program is an early childhood curriculum that takes coherently organized science content as the hub of an integrated approach.

In the ScienceStart! curriculum, each day’s science lesson is structured according to a simple cycle of scientific reasoning:

reflect & ask
plan & predict
act & observe
report & reflect

The daily science lesson is supported by children’s literature that is read aloud, by props included in the various learning centers, and by planned activities for art and outdoor play. Math and social studies content is integrated into the science activities on a regular basis.